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What a bunch of baseless assumptions, speculation and fear mongering! Sploid has posted this story without ANY critical thought whatsoever because MONSTERS! And now it’s getting a ton of attention from people who are not thinking about it whatsoever, just passing it on. It’s making the rounds on mystery mongering sites where the commentators have to say either OMG MEGALODON! or, ummm, there are several less dramatic explanations. Oh, but talking about the rational stuff, that’s being a “wet blanket”.

A 9 foot long shark is tagged. The tag is recovered sans shark but with strange data. Check out the video for more about the depth and temp range recorded by the tag. Interesting.

But then, it’s all about the way the data was framed. For television and media consumption…

This is a the perfect time to introduce our new mascot, AL the Anomallama. AL responds just the like the public, without thinking too hard. Then he just retweets the amazing story to his friends. On a scale of 1-5 – 5 being panic – AL finds this story a 4.

GIANT MYSTERY SHARK EATING ANIMAL!!!!!

AL is ALARMED. LEVEL 4

OK, AL, chill out. There are a ton of things wrong with this and you don’t go into the ocean. So, don’t panic.

The first assumption is that the whole shark has been eaten. That’s not a foregone conclusion. The tag is detached from the shark. That’s all we know for sure. Only the tag may have been eaten. Perhaps the shark was attacked by something – 9 feet is not very large – a sperm whale, another shark, an orca or a giant squid, all of which can dive very deep. Lots of people bet on the giant squid, because that’s cool. Except we already know giant squid exist so it’s not all that mysterious. Maybe they eat sharks. Big deal, SO DO PEOPLE.

Other options include the shark was captured, de-finned, and the tag was discarded, possibly then eaten by another animal (you find a lot of garbage in the stomachs of sea creatures).

Many people went to town on this saying it was Megalodon or some monster. There is NO reason to conclude that. None. It’s nonsense (but of course lots of fun) to speculate wildly with little to go on, making it as incredible as possible.

As usual, Animal Planet is being ridiculous about it, saying it might be Megalodon (based on their fictional show with bogus scientists played by actors). Does ANYONE at the Discovery Network know ANYTHING about REAL ANIMALS? You know, the ones that people actual know exist? I doubt it.

I have not seen shark researchers weigh in yet. If anyone has some INTELLIGENT links to this story, please post. It’s Friday and I’m sick of mindless stuff. And even deep-sea dwelling animals have to eat.

UPDATE: Solved, it was most likely another great white. The data matches with that. Big sharks eat littler sharks. No big deal, unless you are that poor shark. See links in our comments. Paranormal and mystery-mongering sites? There is NO reason to conclude there is a new super preditor. Epic fail. As usual.

I just saw a program in which scientists in California were studying the annual great white feeding frenzy on seals, when one of the sharks was blasted out of the water and killed by an orca. The rest of the great whites immediately dove down deep and hightailed it towards Hawaii, totally abandoning their primary feeding opportunity out of pure fear.

I did like how the bigger shark was described as a “colossal cannibal” great white shark. It that simply because it’s a little bigger and eats members of its own species? I’m thinking that description might cover a fair chunk of the animal kingdom. Spiders eat smaller spiders, so now they must be colossal (relatively) and cannibals as well right?

Sadly too predictable how this stuff would be reported. And, pardon the pun, regurgitated.

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An aggregator of strange and questionable claims in the media (not always doubtful or harmful) with a punch of critical thinking.